"My quest for less oily, smoother skin."

I admit it, I watch TLC's What Not to Wear. For those who aren't familiar with the show, two fashion stylists make over an unwitting (and ambushed) guest with a $5,000 wardrobe, new hairdo and new makeup look. The makeup always intrigues me as Carmindy, the show's skin and makeup expert, never quite divulges the products that she uses. So I spend the better part of her 5 minutes of the show squinting and scanning to try to decipher ANYthing that might give me a clue. On a recent episode, Carmindy mentioned that the 'victim' of the moment should use an AHA (alpha-hydroxy acid) product every day. The explanation was that it would give this woman's skin an amazing glow in approximately 2 weeks. I immediately decided that this was something I needed to get on board with, and headed out to my friendly, neighborhood Sephora in search of just the right thing. Not before doing my pre-visit web research first, of course, so I at least knew where to start.

I had 3 products that I was after: Murad's Skin Perfecting Lotion, Peter Thomas Roth's Glycolic Moisturizer, and something else that right now escapes my mind. Well, here's what happened - The very nice, but very serious Eastern European woman who helped me pointed out that an AHA product can actually dry your skin out with too much of the wrong thing. So she led me to Perricone's Pore Refining Toner Pads and LET me tell you. Now, whether it is this or any other, I highly suggest using a toner after cleansing your skin at least once a day. The extra sweep helps remove any leftover dirt and grime, which better prepares your skin to receive the moisturizer that you will be applying next... You are moisturizing, aren't you? Toners come in all shapes and sizes, so you can find one that says it will do just about anything... maybe I'll post on that another time.

The product recommends that you should use it both morning and night. I thought this might be too crazy for my sensitive skin to handle, so I decided to just go the evening route to see what happened. In the past 2 weeks my skin has become softer than a baby's you-know-what, and sweet Lord if I don't just sit around all day running my hand over my newly soft cheeks. I'm still holding out on whether I think my pores or overall skintone are changing/improving. BUT, this is a product that for $35 I would say is worth a try.

In general, the idea of Nicholas Perricone skin care scares me because its so expensive. But at $35, I was willing to stomach the concept and find out for myself. I will note at this point that I want everyone to keep in mind that we all have different skin types, so results that I experience may not always be the same for you. However, in this case, I think that that might be less true.... You all will have to let me know!